


ligercelotah

by icymapletree



Series: 13 nights of halloween [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Precious Peter Parker, pepper's mom is in this for some reason idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 17:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20855870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: “What will Morgan be for Halloween? Have you decided yet?” Peter anticipated.“Mrs Potts wants her to wear some family costume. Apparently she and her sisters wore it and so did Pep. It’s like sixty-seven years old or some shit," Tony said.“What is it?”“It’s a liger.”“You mean like the unethically-bred large cats?”orFamily traditions don't have to be passed down by blood.





	ligercelotah

**Author's Note:**

> written for #6: doppelgänger on [hailingstars](https://hailing-stars.tumblr.com/) 13 nights of halloween prompt list!

Peter was quickly scrawling numbers and formulas down on a piece of notebook paper under the harsh fluorescent lighting of Tony’s workshop. Diagrams of different compounds filled the page, and graphite smudges covered the edges. Only when Peter put his pencil down with a sigh did Tony dare ask any questions.

“So, kiddo,” Peter whipped his head in Tony’s direction at the sound of his voice, “what’re you gonna be for halloween?”

“I was thinking just putting on the suit and passing out candy,” he shrugged, stretching a little bit, “no one would have a Spider-Man costume as accurate as mine!”

“Firstly, it’s not a costume,” Tony pointed a reprimanding finger, “And secondly, I was thinking you might want to take Morgan Trick-or-Treating with Pepper and I.”

Peter’s eyes went wide. “Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously,” Tony chuckled, looking down at his feet briefly, “but only if you want to. I wouldn’t want to spring that on you.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You wouldn’t be.”

Peter considered him for a moment. “Then there’s nothing I’d want to do more, Mr Stark!” he exclaimed, smile growing impossibly wide.

“Good!” Tony patted Peter on the shoulder and sat on the stool next to him. He began to look over Peter’s work on the newest web formula, comfortable silence falling over them like a warm blanket.

Peter broke it soon enough, asking “What will Morgan be for Halloween? Have you decided yet?”

Tony’s eyes glide along the paper for five seconds longer, finishing the line he was reading before looking up at his kid.

“Mrs Potts wants her to wear some family costume. Apparently she and her sisters wore it and so did Pep. It’s like sixty-seven years old or some shit.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a liger.”

“You mean like the unethically-bred large cats?”

“No, I think it was supposed to be a tiger? But I had FRIDAY run animal print diagnostics on it and it’s a mixture of a cheetah, an ocelot and a tiger.” Tony shrugged. “Totally not worth calling it a ligercelotah.”

“I like ligercelotah,” Peter laughed.

“I don’t,” Tony grumbled.

* * *

A week or two later, Peter stood in front of the new house that the Starks had moved into. It was in the suburbs of New York, close enough for Morgan to attend school in the city and for Peter to visit often. Tony had wanted to keep the cabin, of course, but living in the suburbs surrounding the city - at least during the school year - was so much easier.

He had never been in the house alone, though. Even when he was babysitting Morgan, Morgan was still there. He shot a text to Tony, not wanting to intrude by entering without permission.

**Peter:** i’m at the house already

**Mr Stark:** Just let yourself in. Getting Morgan from a friend’s house.

**Peter:** ok

Peter walked up the stoop, placing his thumb on the center of the door knob - it was a biometric lock - before walking into the spacious living area. He sat awkwardly on the couch before eventually migrating to the ceiling, dangling from a web he shot up there. Not much time passed before he turned on the TV at a low volume, content to wait for Tony, Pepper and Morgan’s return in this position.

Soon, Peter heard the mechanical whir of the biometric lock, but the back of his neck tingled. _That’s strange,_ he thought, _the Starks have never set off my tingle._

Focusing his hearing, sure enough, there was another heartbeat, but it wasn’t quick like Morgan’s or slightly faint like Tony’s. It also wasn’t the steady, even beats that Pepper’s heart pounded out. It was… somewhere in the middle.

Peter aimed his arm at the door, ready to thwip the intruder, but he subconsciously hesitated when he saw faded strawberry blonde hair and familiar soft eyes. It didn’t register in his brain who this might be, but the elder woman was equally as taken aback by Peter’s presence.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Peter asked, narrowing his eyes and lowering his voice slightly.

“I was just about to ask the same question,” she said, her stare that was soft when she entered had now turned hard and icy.

“I asked first,” Peter protested.

“You’re hanging from the ceiling - which is pretty suspicious, by the way - and I’m older, which means I get answers first.”

Peter studied her for a second. She had access to the lock, so she must be a friend of the Stark’s. His tingle had also gone away, which meant she couldn’t have been that much of a threat - or not even a threat at all.

“Fine,” he whined. The woman raised an eyebrow.

“I’m Peter Parker,” he nodded, flipping down from the ceiling, “and I’m Tony’s kid. This is his and Pepper’s house, by the way?”

“Yeah, well, I’m Valerie Potts, Pepper’s mother.”

Peter’s heart stopped. “Oh, uh, my bad,” Peter stuttered, eyes darting around the room.

“It’s really no problem. Now, who did you say you were, by the way?”

“I’m… well, I’m Tony’s kid.” She raised her eyebrows.

“No, no, no, not biologically. It’s kinda weird how we how we met, I mean he pretty much found me in a dumpster-”

“I know,” she cut him off.

“You know he found me in a dumpster?”

“No, I know who you are,” she rolled her eyes, “Morgan talks about you a lot. Just making sure you’re who I thought you were.” The two stared at each other for a brief second. “You act just like him, by the way. Tony.”

Peter smiled lightly and blushed. “Morgan talks about me?”

“All the time. Though I can say, watching Tony sputter at her declaration that you were just like a spider was fun to watch him attempt to explain.”

“So, you know?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “Morgan can’t keep a secret. Although, I do have to say, if I wouldn’t have known about the spidery stuff I would’ve been more shocked at the fact that there was a child on the ceiling.”

“Oh,” Peter looked down at his feet, “Mr Stark always says that I need to be more careful with my identity.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t expecting visitors,” she teased, nudging his shoulder and wrinkling her nose. “Let’s get some apple cider and you can tell me about yourself.”

Peter rushed after her with a smile.

* * *

“Pee-tah,” Morgan sing-songed as Pepper opened the door for her.

Morgan had begun to rush to the kitchen where she heard conversation, but Pepper quickly reprimanded her to take off her shoes. Rolling her eyes and slipping off her Twinkle Toes, she called out “We’re home!” and restarted her dash to the kitchen.

Peter was sitting across from Mrs Potts, and a sliver of a smile was on his face as he sipped from his mug of apple cider. Mrs Potts is clearly telling a story, but stops when she sees her granddaughter.

“Nonna!” Morgan squeaked, “You and Petey are friends?”

“Yeah, Morgana, we’re friends,” she said, with a large grin before pushing her chair in and scooping Morgan into her arms. Tony and Pepper soon joined the group in the kitchen, Tony’s arm around Pepper’s waist.

“Mom,” Pepper grinned, “I didn’t know you would be in town today.”

“Virginia! I just wanted to drop this off,” she said, pulling the liger costume out of her purse. “And along the way, I’ve decided to adopt a new grandchild.” Peter’s smile grew tenfold.

“And who would that be?” Tony teased, “Gerald?”

“You already know the answer to that, Anthony.” Tony rolled his eyes in response to her use of his full name before she continued to speak. “So, I was thinking - as long as Peter’s alright with this of course - that we put him in a liger costume… It’s only tradition,” Mrs Potts shrugged with a mischievous smile. Peter rapidly nodded as she spoke.

“Nonna, Petey can’t fit in that!” Morgan pointed out while looking at the costume that was laid out on the table.

“Yeah, but I know someone who can sew,” she smirked, looking at Tony. Everyone’s eyes soon followed hers to the older man’s.

“The blip was rough, okay? I had to pick up new hobbies!”

“Excuses,” Peter pursed his lips and shook his head, “it’s obvious who the real grandma is in this room.”

* * *

Halloween night arrived fairly quickly. Trick or Treat was on a Thursday, despite Tony’s grumbles that he was going to pay the city to move it to a more tasteful day like Friday.

“Alright, Peter, kneel down so that you and Morgan are at eye level with each other,” Pepper said while holding a camera. Peter quickly obliged, adjusting his hat with the ears on it so it was central on his head. Morgan’s cap was a little off center, but her smile was so wide that it actually added to the cuteness.

The costume itself was only one piece with the patented ‘ligercelotah’ print and a stuffed tail coming off of the back. Peter was oddly comfortable in the costume and Tony’s comments about that rolled right off (“I go out in red and blue spandex every night, Mr Stark, of course I’m comfortable in a liger costume”).

“Great, now act like you’re giving her a piggyback ride,” May instructed from the sidelines. Peter easily tossed Morgan above his head, catching her before she fell and putting her on his shoulders. Morgan’s giggles grew louder, and Peter kept smiling. Pepper had snapped a picture right when Morgan was tossed in the air, and that was the one she sent to her mom that night.

Mrs Potts had the picture printed the next day, then placed it on her mantelpiece to unite it with the other generations of ligers.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not very happy with this one, but i've always liked the idea of pepper's mom and peter meeting. idk, maybe i'll explore it further another time.
> 
> the liger costume was a very real thing for my family and turns sixty-nine (heh) years old this coming halloween
> 
> also, i was not attempting to imply that peter is a furry.
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)!


End file.
